Swedish Pat. No. 382,929 describes a powder metallurgical method of manufacturing articles, wherein metal powder is supplied to a mould having a pattern which substantially corresponds to the shape of the desired article, the mould is placed in a container with a secondary pressure medium, the metal powder is heated to a high temperature for compacting, and the powder is subjected to isostatic consolidation by pressing at a high temperature via a gas or liquid pressure medium. It is a drawback with this method that one has to have an autoclave of an advanced type in order to obtain the high isostatic pressure at the high temperature. This equipment is very expensive, which to a high extend reduces the feasibility of the method. Moreover the use of an autoclave is troublesome and time consuming which also has an unfavourable impact upon the total economy of the method.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,499,049 describes a method for the consolidation of a metal or ceramic article, wherein a green body of powderous metal or ceramic material is first manufactured. This green body is sintered in order to increase its strength and thereafter it is placed in a bed of essentially spheroidic ceramic particles. The bed and the green body embedded in the bed are heated and compacted under a high pressure, so that the green body is consolidated to a dense body. With this technique there are only considerably limited possibilities of manufacturing articles with complicated shape. Still more limited are the possibilities of producing surfaces which have a high dimensional accuracy and smoothness. Further it is a drawback with this technique that the initial manufacturing and handling of a green body is complicated and constitutes a step which increases the costs.